Posted on 05/26/2015 5:46:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
Last week Fox News announced rules for it's August 6, 2015 GOP primary debate, the first debate of the 2016 cycle. CNN did the same for it's September 16 debate. Currently, the Republican field sits at nearly two dozen potential candidates. Fox's rules allow for 10 to be on-stage. CNN allows for two groups to debate with 10 frontrunners on stage and a second group of less popular contenders invited to participate in a another forum. Getting into the top 10 on-stage will be determined by averages of public opinion polling. You can learn more about the rules and what they mean for the 2016 field here.
The rules announcement and requirement of relevant poll numbers didn't sit well with potential 2016 candidate and 2012 presidential primary loser Rick Santorum.
"I'm probably the best person to comment on this. In January of 2012 I was at 4 percent in the national polls, and I won the Iowa caucuses. I don't know if I was last in the polls, but I was pretty close to last," Santorum said. "And so the idea that a national poll has any relationship to the viability of a candidate—ask Rudy Giuliani that. Ask Phil Gramm that. You can go on down the list of folks who were doing real well in national polls and didn't win a single state and were not a viable candidate."
"If you're a United States senator, if you're a governor, if you're a woman who ran a Fortune 500 company, and you're running a legitimate campaign for president, then you should have a right to be on stage with everybody else," Santorum said. "So the idea that we're going to arbitrarily—and it's arbitrary, someone at 1.15 is in, someone at 1.14 is out—that to me is not a rational way."
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina took a different approach, without the whining, and is stepping up to the challenge to get on stage in the top 10. Fiorina announced to supporters last week that she accepts the rules and looks forward to complying with them.
"Friend, Fox News just announced how they will select participants for the first debate. I’ll skip straight to the point: I look forward to participating in the Fox News debate. I’ll make it clear that I’m ready to take on Hillary Clinton," Fiorina sent in an email to supporters. "But I need your help to get on that debate stage. In order to secure an invitation, I need to grow my team of supporters. You already know I’m working hard -- in Iowa and New Hampshire, and all across the country. But this is going to take more than hard work. The career politicians have a big head start. I need the resources necessary to broadcast my message to more Republicans."
Glad @FoxNews released metrics for 1st debate. I'll look forward to making the cut and making my case to GOP voters on Aug 6th.— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) May 21, 2015
Over the weekend Santorum, Fiorina and a number of other potential candidates participated in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who hasn't officaly declared his candidacy yet, seems to have come out on top.
If the media wants to protect Hillary they will want to keep Carly off the stage, as she is not afraid to say anything.
I really like her then she embraced gay marriage. That embrace sort of gave me pause.
True that....it’s why I’m glad Carly is in the mix. She’s doing us all a favor....
Who is for Rick Santorum? I’ve not come across a single conservative site where most of the posters didn’t express disdain for him. Where is he getting his support from and why doesn’t he just go away?
>>What are you going to do if he does not get the nomination? Are you going to pout and sit on your behind? I guarantee you if you do, you can say Hello President Hillary Clinton.
I’m not thinking about that juncture until I arrive at it.
Me neither. He supported Arlen Spector which led to his own defeat.
He’s sounds like Obama. Always saying look at me. I know what is best for you. He always sounds whiney to me. There’s much better candidates who get conservative ideas across and he’s not that conservative, economically. Please go home, Rick and enjoy your family.
I don’t think anybody should be allowed on the debate stage who has not officially announced their candidacy. Hopefully by August 6th that won’t be an issue. If you have not announced by then you are not running.
I think selecting the top 10 is rather generous. What, they each get 10 minutes and that’s the debate, I’m sure I’ll learn alot about the candidates /s
I really like Carly Fiorina.
I am not going to vote for her in the primary and she has no chance of getting the nomination, but I hope she sticks it out until the end. She is able to tear into the Hildebeast like no other candidate.
I hope that President Cruz gives her a nice ambassadorship or maybe even a cabinet position for her efforts.
I will gladly vote for Cruz if he gets the nomination. I might even vote for him in the primary, but it’s to early for me and I have never voted for the nominee that I voted for in the primary. Unless the candidate ran for reelection. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush come to mind
It would not surprise me if Trump paid Fox to keep her out and put him in the debate. He is just arrogant as that pos occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania
I have nothing against her, but will not vote for her either
Unfortunately, by the time I get to vote in a primary here in Texas the nomination is usually already decided. I voted against McCain and Romney in 2008 and 2012 on a matter of principal, even though most of the other candidates on the primary ballot had already dropped out.
Yap. Carly certainly has a bigger pair than Ricky.
GOP does not nominate anyone. It is the republican VOTERS who usually are allowed to vote and pick the winner. The nomination is NOT decided in a smoke filled room. It is by secret ballots available to every eligible CITIZEN. Since becoming citizen in 1970, I have voted in every primary and general, based on my own choice, and not due to prompting by anyone.
However, I think the party, the pundits, and the establishment politicians have much influence of process, procedure and message to the voters. Someone like Karl Rove really has a lot of influence over who will rise to the top. We've seen candidates before who grabbed a lot of voter attention (Sarah Palin) and they just melted away because powerful people (in both parties) wanted them to be shoved off-stage.
I'm cynical enough to think that the voters have less say in these matters than one might wish.
It's not "odd", it's very very bad. Where is the leadership in the GOP? Well, I guess to ask the question is to answer it.
Actually, as much as I dislike Santorum (and I do), I think he's right on this one. He does make a good point that national poll status is no indicator of who will win in the early states.
My suggestion: have a debate tournament, with 4 participants per debate. When you have 15 baseball or soccer teams, do you have them all on the field at the same time?
Of course you are right. The party hierarchy does it’s best to promote their choice, like McCain & Romney.
So....it falls on the shoulders of other candidates to be persuasive, articulate, credible, and most important..LIKABLE to convince the electorate to vote for them. Ronald Reagan did that in 1980! Reagan was never loud, scowling, with a menacing look on his face. He was smooth as chocolate mousse! What I am seeing in 2016 candidates so far is encouraging.
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